Progress for 100 Dominican kids with special needs

I would like to present you the story of Sebastian today:

Hi, my name is Sebastian. I live with my mother and sometimes my grandmother also visits us for a few weeks.  I was 5 years old when my mother enrolled me in the home visiting program of the Fundación Cuidado Infantil Dominicano

I was very shy and couldn't keep my attention on anything for long. I mispronounced the few words I knew and was throwing tantrums. I didn't want to be with anyone else except my mother. I wasn't very independent either, I didn't bathe myself, didn't dress myself, not even simple clothes. I didn't know how to point to or name things, make pairs, use my hands to use scissors, draw, complete a simple puzzle, etc.

Everything changed when my mother heard about the work of the Foundation from another mother. She registered me and the teacher Nurys came to visit me every week. At first I didn't pay her much attention, but I soon realized that the things she let me do were actually fun. So I started looking forward to her visits.

In between visits, my mother continued to play with me almost every day repeating the things Nurys taught her to do with me, and so I learned to pay attention, socialize with other children and people, learn more words and pronounce them better. I throw no more tantrums!

Thanks to the help of Nurys and now Johanna, the new teacher, and the guidance my mother received, I now bathe and dress myself, I am more independent, I know the name of many colors, I even cut out round things, I can already complete puzzles with 12 pieces and I feel more at ease with others. I also learned to say thank you and please!

I am 8 years old now and I am glad my mother has enrolled me for this next school year at a school nearby!!

I'm really looking forward to that.

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This story illustrates beautifully the objective of our home visiting program: help parents understand how to stimulated their children and get them ready to be enrolled in a regular school. (or special education)

Sadly this will not always be the final result for all the children in the program, as some children are too much involved.  Still we keep an open mind and see if the family and the child can surprise us with strides of progress!!

Thank you for you support! We appreciate you chose our programs out of many other good causes.

Wishing you good health, success and happiness,